ESL announce EPS Germany changes

The Electronic Sports League has announced a format change for the upcoming Pro Series Germany seasons.

EPS Germany has been around for 8.5 years, and with the eighteenth season soon to start, ESL has decided to invigorate with a new league format.

The new mode will feature four groups of four, in which top-two finishers advance to playoffs. Teams will in addition have to play their contenders twice over the eight-week long regular season.

Bottom two of every group will relegate to a two-stage double-elimination bracket the ESL has coined as playdowns. See the illustration by ESL below:

Teams who manage to collect two victories in the playdowns bracket will secure their slot for the next season, while one win and one loss will reward entry to the relgation stage.

The less fortunate teams, those who manage to rack up a total of two losses, will automatically be relegated to next season's ESL Amateur Series.

Moreover, the playoffs will see eight teams entering the quarterfinals' bracket. Here, the community will be able to cast a vote in order to determine which two quarterfinal matches they want to see at an Intel Friday Night Games event.

The two semifinal matches will in addition take place at an IFNG event, but the Grand Final will be held at an separate IFNG.